Silas
Beloved of All
Your burden to see loved ones set free is right and good, and the Scriptures you are standing on are true. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world, and those who are with us in Christ are more than those who are against us. The victory does belong to the Lord, and He is able to keep His people from evil and to guard hearts and minds with His peace as we bring requests to Him with thanksgiving.
Prayer at its heart is not a way to make God do what we want. It begins with God, with reverence for His name and His purpose, and it seeks to see His will done. It moves in a kind of circle, from God to us and back to God, for His is the kingdom and the power and the glory. That is why true prayer includes worship, an awe at who God is, and also includes asking for our own needs, and then moves outward to intercession for others. If you are not yet His child, the one prayer He is waiting to hear is for mercy, God be merciful to me a sinner, which opens the relationship through Jesus alone. Once you are His, you have open access, and you can come boldly. There is no need to be afraid of what God has for you. The better posture is to stay fully open to Him, with the only fear being that you might miss something He wants to do in your life.
You are right to see this as a spiritual battle and not a struggle against people. The god of this world has blinded eyes so people cannot see the truth, and what is needed first is prayer that God would open their eyes and break that captivity. Our weapons are not physical. They are spiritual and mighty through God to pull down strongholds, to cast down thoughts that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, and to bring every thought into obedience to Christ. In that sense prayer itself becomes a spiritual force. By prayer God drives back the enemy from ground he holds by no right, and by prayer blinded eyes are opened to the gospel.
That is why activity alone is never enough. God uses people who pray, and often more is accomplished through prayer than through all our effort, especially when effort is not backed by prayer. Like one man in Scripture who was remembered simply because he called on the God of Israel, a life of prayer does more for the glory of God than constant hustle. Even when you cannot go to your loved ones, your prayers are not limited by place. Just as Paul could continue to work for the churches while chained in prison through his constant prayers for them, you can reach your family and friends before the throne of grace.
As you pray and even as you fast, remember what fasting is meant to do. Jesus fasted before His public ministry, and Scripture shows that fasting is linked with humbling ourselves. Whenever people truly saw the Lord, the result was a low view of self. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Fasting is not a way to impress God or to be meticulous in small religious details while missing the weightier matters of justice and love. It is a way to humble yourself, to seek understanding and deliverance according to His Word, and to say from the heart that you want His will.
Keep the whole armor of God in view. Truth and righteousness by faith, the gospel of peace that tells enemies of God they can have peace with Him through what Jesus has done, the shield of faith that quenches real attacks from the ancient serpent, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. The message of that sword is that Jesus died in our place to pay for sin and satisfy a holy God, and His righteousness is given as a free gift that makes us born again and assures us of salvation. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Eternal life itself is not a reward for work but a gift, not earned lest anyone boast, though as children we do have responsibilities to walk faithfully.
Do not seek merely a moment of deliverance without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. What is needed is that Christ would come in to live within, for only then is the house truly occupied. Pray for that entrance, for the new birth, not just for relief. And as you pray, know you are not alone in it. Jesus Himself lives and intercedes for you, and the Holy Spirit helps you in prayer, even with groanings that cannot be uttered, making intercession according to the will of God. When the Spirit guides your praying, you can have confidence you are praying according to His will. God searches the heart and knows the mind of the Spirit.
So stand firm and keep your first concern on His kingdom. Put His Word before you so it can give understanding to the simple and order your steps. Be not only a hearer of the Word but a doer of it, doing the will of God from the heart in whatever you do, as serving the Lord. If God is for you, who can be against you. No host, however great, is anything to Him. Continue in worship, in asking, and in interceding with perseverance for all the saints, trusting that every good answer you receive was already in His kind purpose before you asked, and that He will be faithful to guard you and to draw your loved ones to Himself in His time.
Prayer at its heart is not a way to make God do what we want. It begins with God, with reverence for His name and His purpose, and it seeks to see His will done. It moves in a kind of circle, from God to us and back to God, for His is the kingdom and the power and the glory. That is why true prayer includes worship, an awe at who God is, and also includes asking for our own needs, and then moves outward to intercession for others. If you are not yet His child, the one prayer He is waiting to hear is for mercy, God be merciful to me a sinner, which opens the relationship through Jesus alone. Once you are His, you have open access, and you can come boldly. There is no need to be afraid of what God has for you. The better posture is to stay fully open to Him, with the only fear being that you might miss something He wants to do in your life.
You are right to see this as a spiritual battle and not a struggle against people. The god of this world has blinded eyes so people cannot see the truth, and what is needed first is prayer that God would open their eyes and break that captivity. Our weapons are not physical. They are spiritual and mighty through God to pull down strongholds, to cast down thoughts that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, and to bring every thought into obedience to Christ. In that sense prayer itself becomes a spiritual force. By prayer God drives back the enemy from ground he holds by no right, and by prayer blinded eyes are opened to the gospel.
That is why activity alone is never enough. God uses people who pray, and often more is accomplished through prayer than through all our effort, especially when effort is not backed by prayer. Like one man in Scripture who was remembered simply because he called on the God of Israel, a life of prayer does more for the glory of God than constant hustle. Even when you cannot go to your loved ones, your prayers are not limited by place. Just as Paul could continue to work for the churches while chained in prison through his constant prayers for them, you can reach your family and friends before the throne of grace.
As you pray and even as you fast, remember what fasting is meant to do. Jesus fasted before His public ministry, and Scripture shows that fasting is linked with humbling ourselves. Whenever people truly saw the Lord, the result was a low view of self. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Fasting is not a way to impress God or to be meticulous in small religious details while missing the weightier matters of justice and love. It is a way to humble yourself, to seek understanding and deliverance according to His Word, and to say from the heart that you want His will.
Keep the whole armor of God in view. Truth and righteousness by faith, the gospel of peace that tells enemies of God they can have peace with Him through what Jesus has done, the shield of faith that quenches real attacks from the ancient serpent, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. The message of that sword is that Jesus died in our place to pay for sin and satisfy a holy God, and His righteousness is given as a free gift that makes us born again and assures us of salvation. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Eternal life itself is not a reward for work but a gift, not earned lest anyone boast, though as children we do have responsibilities to walk faithfully.
Do not seek merely a moment of deliverance without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. What is needed is that Christ would come in to live within, for only then is the house truly occupied. Pray for that entrance, for the new birth, not just for relief. And as you pray, know you are not alone in it. Jesus Himself lives and intercedes for you, and the Holy Spirit helps you in prayer, even with groanings that cannot be uttered, making intercession according to the will of God. When the Spirit guides your praying, you can have confidence you are praying according to His will. God searches the heart and knows the mind of the Spirit.
So stand firm and keep your first concern on His kingdom. Put His Word before you so it can give understanding to the simple and order your steps. Be not only a hearer of the Word but a doer of it, doing the will of God from the heart in whatever you do, as serving the Lord. If God is for you, who can be against you. No host, however great, is anything to Him. Continue in worship, in asking, and in interceding with perseverance for all the saints, trusting that every good answer you receive was already in His kind purpose before you asked, and that He will be faithful to guard you and to draw your loved ones to Himself in His time.
